Back in the good old USSA with more sojourns planned

SACRAMENTO, Calif., USA - Two days back in the USSA and I think I am finally rested enough to write something coherent.

You get to be the judge.

Pool and view from our condo

After Adm. Fox left Mexico in a cloud of dust (quite literally) driving from Puerto Vallarta to Sacramento, I stayed behind, wrote a little but mostly closed up the condo at Bahia del Sol, said goodbye to, well, so many Canadians that I wonder if anyone stays there in the winter.

Adm. Fox's trip went smoothly, with a stop in San Diego before landing here at Dr. Pam and Steve's house where I joined her two days ago. My flights were good, all luggage is accounted for and now civilization is being enjoyed.

You can drink water from the tap! Eat lettuce without soaking it in a disinfecting solution! And the wine not only is drinkable, it's inexpensive. At least the wine I buy and drink.

Rinse before eating, but nothing else

I do miss the sound of the ocean, replaced here by the distant thrum of the freeway. And I miss our Spanish lessons with arguably the best Spanish teacher from whom I have ever taken a class. But it's on to new adventures, including a trip to the Northwest then across the Rockies and back to New York sometime in mid-April.

Before that, I have to finish up the writing on my book The Fracking War and - perhaps equally important - find a camper or camper shell for our newly painted Toyota Tundra to make our expedition more fun.

We had the Tundra painted before Adm. Fox headed north. There were more than a few dings and scrapes from living in the village and some small truck vs. car mishaps. I will miss the cost of Mexican repairs. The body work, repainting and bumper straightening cost $546 U.S.

Time to start checking Craigslist for that camper... like the one shown below...

Looking for this kind of camper...

Bicycles, violins and ukuleles all in one day

SACRAMENTO, Calif., USA - In the countdown to Turkey Day, we had Anne, Samantha and Kamryn visit today for lunch and the surprise of the day (maybe month) was the just the day before, Samantha had taken her first solo on her bicycle.

And today she couldn't wait to grab ahold of the bike we keep at our Land Park casa.

After a bit of inflation for both tires, she hopped on and rode back and forth to show off her newfound skill.

I'll bet next summer she doesn't wait around for her Mom to take her to visit friends.



But right after that bit of transportation-related excitement, Admiral Fox and I transited to the studio where our music teacher, Bill Trainor, put us through an hour's worth of lessons on how to make the violin and ukulele sound good together.

It might take more than one hour's worth of lessons.

Still, it was fun and with even the little bit of instruction and suggestions, it looks like we will be able to stand up at open mic night in Mexico at Palapa Joes and not embarrass ourselves.

Not too much anyway.

One issue that arose immediately is that my ukulele just doesn't have the horsepower to play very loud, at least compared to a violin. So tomorrow I will be in search of a new ukulele (possibly an eight-string) that is wired for an amplier. And, of course, that means the purchase of an amplifier, too - a small one, but still - an amp!

Our Mexico-bound travel trailer is starting to fill up quick.